Uterine and arcuate arteries blood flow for predicting of ongoing pregnancy in in vitro fertilization

Abstract

Background: In this study, we aimed to investigate the ability of transvaginal Doppler ultrasonography in predicting in vitro fertilization
(IVF) outcome in women undergoing this procedure. Materials and Methods: In this prospective observational study, 65 infertile women underwent IVF procedure in Isfahan, during 2013-2014, were studied. The pulsatility index (PI), resistive index (RI) and peak systolic velocity (PSV) of the uterine arteries and arcuate arteries were measured in all selected women using transvaginal color and pulsed Doppler measurements on the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin injection. The women followed up for the primary endpoint which was a successful pregnancy. The mean of PI, RI, and PSV were compared in groups of women who had successful IVF
and not. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the predictive value of studied indices. Results: In this study, from 65 women, 32 (49.2%) and 33 (50.8%) have successful and unsuccessful IVF outcome, respectively. The mean of PI and RI of both uterine and arcuate arteries were significantly lower in pregnant women than non-pregnant ones (P < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve of PI (84.7%) and RI (84.4%) for uterine arteries was higher than other indices. The most accurate indices for predicting the outcome of IVF was RI of uterine arteries with an accuracy of 81.5%. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that PI and RI assessments of uterine arteries could be used as a routine non-invasive factor, before hCG stimulation, for predicting the outcome of IVF.

Key words: Embryo implantation, in vitro fertilization, transvaginal Doppler ultrasound